CES 2009

The CM1 comes in eye-popping orange and purple, as well as staid silver.

(Credit: Sony Electronics)

One of a duo of direct-to-Web HD mini camcorders marking Sony's debut in the market, the MHS-CM1, is modeled more after the traditional cheap designs from Panasonic and Samsung than the new tech toy-type Flip MinoHDs of the world.

The horizontal design does allow for a 5X zoom lens and largish 2.5-inch LCD. However, I found the CM1 oddly uncomfortable to hold. It records 1080p MPEG-4 video to Memory Stick Duos at 1440x1080 resolution, and shoots stills at a comparatively high resolution. Also like many competitors, the software it ships with, Picture Motion Browser Portable, doesn't support Macs.

You can get one of these brightly colored shooters now for $200.

(Credit: RCA)

In the minicamcorder market, last year RCA pretty much played second or third fiddle to Flip Video and Kodak, with Creative recently making a late charge. Well, RCA hopes to change all that with its new Small Wonder EZ209HD, which carries the bargain price of $120 and is due out sometime this spring.

This model is smaller and sleeker than previous Small Wonders, integrates a microSD card slot rather than an SD card slot (it accepts microSD cards up to 16GB), and retains a not-too-puny 2-inch LCD. Like the Creative Vado HD, the EZ209HD also incorporates an HDMI output so you can connect the camcorder directly to your HDTV to view your clips in their full glory.

Like competing mini-HD models, the EZ209HD records up to two hours of video on a single charge. It captures video at HD and SD resolutions at up to 60 frames per second. It also captures 8 megapixel still images, but like with all budget minicamcorders, both video and still quality don't measure up to what true HD camcorders and still cameras can produce. Still, this is an impressive price for these specs and should put some pressure on Flip Video to lower the price of its Mino HD. Of course, we'll have to wait to see if the video quality has improved along with the design of the camcorder.